Creating amazing travel content across the consumer journey Google - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Creating amazing travel content across the consumer journey DMAI Annual Convention – July 2017

Google

Google Workshop Presenters

Nate Huff

Senior VP, Miles Partnership

Maggie Stanphill

Director of Content Strategy, Google

Hello and welcome!

I’m Maggie. Nice to meet you.

Content strategy, branding, writing, editorial management

Exploring, near and far.

People want local perspectives on destinations

40% 40%

Of US leisure travelers used A DMO website in the past 12 months.

$31B $31B

Airbnb’s current valuation.

62% 62%

Of travelers get inspiration

• nline from social media

and video.

* Sources, L to R:

1. Dave Bratton, principle, Destination Analysts 2. Techcrunch article from March 2017 3. “The State of the American Traveler,” Destination Analysts

5. 5. Marrak rrakesh esh, Morocco rocco 4. 4. Cancun cun, , Mexic ico 3. 3. Mauriti ritius us 2. 2. Punt nta a Cana, a, D.R.

They want permission to dream, anticipate, and imagine themselves there.

(“There” is likely the Maldives – the #1 most searched location on Google Destinations.)

You deliver the local touch that inspires travelers as they plan their itineraries.

Google Workshop Presenters

Sven Tresp

Program Manager, Street View

Jen Schaefer

Content Strategy Lead, Google Travel

Google Travel

Google Travel wants to connect users with the info they need to easily plan, book, and go on trips. So do you. Here’s how we can work together.

Google Travel is

Flight Search

Web (desktop and mobile)

Google Destinations

Web (desktop and mobile)

Google Trips

Mobile app (Android and iOS)

Hotel Search

Web (desktop and mobile)

“Google Destinations” is our travel-specific search immersive

It helps users searching for info about destinations get a sense of a place and make informed travel decisions.

“Google Trips” is our on-the-ground travel app

It supports users just before and during their trip. The info for each trip is downloadable and available without an internet connection.

Together, our products guide users through the “travel funnel”

DREAM BOOK PREPARE GO

Destinations Flights & Hotels Destinations & Trips Trips

Make the most of your destination on Google by providing great local content! Videos Photos Local events Points of interest Videos

Quality photos = more engagement

La Rambla: This. Not this.

PRO TIP Better-quality photos = higher ranking

How to upload photos (POIs, neighborhoods)

• 1. Sign in to the Google Account for

your market.

• 2. Search for the POI you have photos

for (e.g. “Louvre Museum”).

• 3. Find the “Add a photo” link on the

POI’s place card.

• 4. Upload the photo as prompted.

How to upload city photos

• 1. Sign in to the Google Account for

your market.

• 2. Go to Google Maps and search

for your city (e.g. “Paris”).

• 3. Click on any of the photos.
• 4. At the top right of the blue bar,

you’ll see a camera icon. Click it.

• 5. Upload the photo as prompted.

High-quality photos should:

• Help travelers make decisions & navigate
• Engage & inspire travelers
• Have an obvious point of focus
• Be natural looking (no extreme angles/

manipulated color)

• Have a horizontal orientation
• In general, not be seasonally specific

Lots of top sights = more opportunity for exploration

PRO TIP “Top sights” is the most popular feature

• n Destinations

& Trips

We want to show travelers the places they’ll find meaningful to visit. But we’re missing some local spots like parks, beaches, and islands.

Example 1: Few POIs

Example 2: Many POIs

Which would you choose?

25 25%

Increased time spent researching destinations after we added more Top Sights

How to add POIs

• 1. Sign in to the Google Account

for your market.

• 2. Go to Google Maps and enter

the place’s address.

• 3. Click “Add a missing place” and

follow the prompts.

• 4. Note: If you notice that a POI

isn’t named correctly or is in the wrong place, there’s a prompt to “Suggest an edit.”

PRO TIP Map edits by local guides and business

• wners are

prioritized

Videos = impactful inspiration

High-quality travel videos give travelers a taste of what it’s like to be there.

How to upload videos

• 1. Sign in to the Google Account for your market.
• 2. Go to YouTube.
• 3. Click the “Upload” arrow at the top of the page

and follow the prompts. Click “Publish” to make the video live.

• 4. Add a title and description. Identify 1-2 main words that describe

your video and feature them prominently in both your description and title.

Great travel videos:

• Go beyond glossy brochureware
• Give travelers a sense of place and culture
• Paint a picture of specific aspects that appeal to tourists,

such as regional cuisine & shopping Resources

• YouTube’s Creator Academy offers lessons on branding,

globalization & more.

• Questions? Reach out to the YouTube Creator

Support Team.

Events = another way to explore

You can provide us with community or POI-specific event details so travelers know what’s happening during their visit. Events are displayed on various properties across Google, including Search.

PRO TIP Try Googling “events in [your market]” on mobile

How to add Events

Events are added to Google properties via simple markup

• f the Events section of your

website. Find the publicly available developer guidelines by searching for “Google events developer guidelines.”

PRO TIP The source of the event info gets attribution

Looking forward to working with you!

DMO Partnership Program

The project purpose is to complete Google Maps with fresh and accurate information about the local POIs and businesses, and to improve their

• nline presence with panoramic Street View

imagery. We want to support DMOs (Destination Marketing Organizations) in adding the best and the most relevant locations to Google Maps and completing the city information on Maps.

More than 1 billion monthly active users of Google Maps services

When initially searching for places, consumers use mapping products

44%

• f the time

On average 41% of these searches result in an on-site visit

Do you want your destination to be present in these products?

Knowledge Panel: Your business card on Google

User/Owner User/Owner

Knowledge Panel - Part 1

User/(Owner) /User/Owner /User/Owner

Knowledge Panel - Part 2

User/Owner User/Owner

Owner Owner & Google AdWords

Knowledge Panel - Part 3

Why include photos and virtual tours?

Which restaurant would you go to?

If you picked the one with the photo, you’re in good company

Listings with photos and a virtual tour are twice as likely to generate interest

2x

Street View App

Taking panoramic photos with 360 cameras Adding flat photos to Google Maps

What else can you do to improve your destinations online presence?

Add missing information to Maps

Add information on upcoming events

Add events to your website. Make them visible for 1B Google users.

Be present in Google Trips and Google Destinations

Maximize business visibility in local search results

Provide and update full business information in Google My Business to improve your local ranking and visibility on Google. Local results are based primarily on relevance, distance, and prominence.

See the benefits of partnering with Google

Benefits for visitors

Better decision-making information Trust Additional information

Providing trusted information Address Opening hours Phone number Website Rating and opinions Pictures Offerings Beer, Wine Payments Credit cards Accessibility Wheelchair accessible entrance

Benefits for businesses

Reach a larger market and increase market share

$0 $0

Google will host imagery for free

Potential for increased site traffic and differentiation Stand out among the competition while also lowering acquisition costs

41 41%

Of place searches with mapping products result in a site visit*

1B 1B

Monthly active users Of Google Maps services

*https://www.gybo.com/downloads/search-listing-research.pdf

Making the destination more visible to potential visitors Enhancing & securing the online presence of local tourist attractions Giving the tourist a complete picture of a destination Supporting visitors’ needs Build stronger relationship with local community

Benefits for you as a Tourism Board

Santorini - Google Destinations

Google Maps

Google Trips

Google My Business

Google My Business

Become a Street View driver yourself. Ask us for the new generation of Street View app-compatible cameras built for high accuracy, vehicle-based collection.

New opportunities - Auto-ready Street View

How can you participate?

Find out more:

Register Interest at:

milespartnership.com/GoogleDMO

Or email:

nate.huff@milespartnership.com

Thank you.

Creating amazing travel content across the consumer journey DMAI Annual Convention – July 2017

Google

Case Study Presenters

Leah Chandler

Branson Lakes/Area CVB

David Downing

Visit St Pete/Clearwater

• Improve reach of DMO content – make investments go farther
• Improve quality of existing content in Google’s ecosystem
• Improve depth of information on the destination
• Show a measurable impact from the DMO’s efforts
• Show value to the industry through education and impact

Recap of Program Objectives:

The Process

The Process:

Pilot Program Process

• Audit of top sites in destination content – breadth & depth
• Audit of CVB content assets and current visibility in Google
• Optimization of existing assets
• Prioritization of target sites/businesses
• Business update/content enhancement efforts

Pilot Program Process:

VISIT ST. PETERSBURG/ CLEARWATER

Existing Destination Strengths/Weaknesses on Google

+ Relatively complete destination representation + DMO images, video and event content present in some Google results

• Outdated image and video content in Destinations pages
• Top public destination drivers not presented with best assets
• St. Petersburg & Clearwater: Starti

arting ng Point int

Strategy/Focus

• Focus on optimization of newer video and image content to

improve visibility

• Add content to public places to improve user experience
• Work with key attractions to get businesses verified/updated

(in progress)

• St. Petersburg & Clearwater: Approac

ach

• Definition of “Geographic Feature”
• vs. “Business Listing”
• Gaining understanding of ranking

process for relevant top places

• Influencing Destination videos

carousel with newer, high quality videos

• St. Petersburg & Clearwater: Cha

hallenges enges

• New header images for both destinations
• New photos, descriptions and reviews for key public places
• Video optimization with results (hopefully)
• St. Petersburg & Clearwater: Init

nitial ial Suc ucces ess

• Test optimization of videos
• Streetview 360 footage for key attractions

and public places

• Educating industry through

workshops and tutorials

• Getting local guides to be ambassadors
• St. Petersburg & Clearwater: Nex

ext t Step eps

VISIT ST. PETERSBURG/ CLEARWATER

BRANSON BRANSON

Existing Destination Strengths/Weaknesses on Google

+ Events pulling through on some standard google search results + Christmas well represented on Destinations page

• Missing a lot of the top attractions, especially the shows
• No videos or images currently appearing in Destinations

Branson: Starti arting ng Point int

Strategy/Focus

• Help businesses claim/improve their business listings
• Create new attraction listings for natural experiences and

missing attractions

• Get new (and highly viewed) videos and photos into the

Google content results

Branson: Approach ach

• Education of a somewhat

unsophisticated industry

• Classification of businesses,

particularly shows

• Identifying what elevates

destination content and Top Places

Branson: Cha hallenges enges

• Verified several key businesses to raise Top Places profiles
• Made improvements to content and added photos to dozens of

businesses as a high-level local guide

• Videos now being pulled into the Destination

pages… but not from the CVB

• It’s no longer Christmas in July

Branson: Init nitia ial Suc ucces ess

• Streetview 360 footage for key attractions and public places
• Educating industry through basic workshops and tutorials
• Expanding CVB role as Local Guide in absence of others
• Building a case study around CVB’s impact on events/shows

Branson: Nex ext t Step eps

Find out more:

Register Interest at:

milespartnership.com/GoogleDMO

Or email:

nate.huff@milespartnership.com

Thank you!